…As Clean Tech says 55% of Nigerians lack access to electricity***
The Federal Government has approved N600 billon for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), for the electricity marketer to boost power supply.
The Market Operator of TCN, Mr Edmund Ejie confirmed this on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 3rd quarter Participants and Stakeholders Interactive forum for 2019.
The forum has as its theme: “Rules Compliance for Nigerian Electricity Market (NEM) Development and Sustainability’’.
Ejie said the intervention by the Federal Government was at a very advanced level, adding that it had already been signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, the intervention is for the payment of the shortfall in electricity invoices for the entire market.
“The whopping sum of money has never been injected into the power sector before but even when it is privatised, the government is spending more telling you that the privatisation is given a red flag.
“The fund will be ready for disbursement any moment from now.’’
He explained that the intervention was not restricted to a single chain in the market, as it was holistic.
Mr Usman Mohammed, the Managing Director of TCN said that one of the factors that would make the Nigerian Electricity Market Participants to thrive was by complying with rules, codes and orders.
Usman said that there was the need for the operators to be proactive in recognising that regulatory and standard compliance were the key to market development.
“The theme of the event reflects the growing recognition, concern and importance of regulatory compliance and ruling documents implementation.
“Today’s interactive forum is part of the Market Operator effort to support you and improve the market performance,’’ he said.
He said that the forum was to access the market performance, changes and their impact on the market participants’ readiness and challenges, predict what lies ahead and to determine compliance to rules or lack of it.
Mohammed said that TCN had commenced the provision of Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) in all trading modes in the country provision.
He said that TCN also plans to establish a lasting Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) equipment and facilitating operational audit of both the System and Market Operator.
Also read: TCN explains collapse of national grid
In the meantime, a Non Governmental Organization which focuses on research and consumer awareness, Clean Tech Hub has indicated that 55 per cent of Nigerians lacked access to electricity.
Speaking during a workshop on promoting citizens access to clean energy solution in Nigeria “A Gender Approach” the facilitator, Mr Mark Amaza said that 93 million Nigerians presently lacked access to electricity.
He said the figure represents 55 per cent of the total number of Nigerians that lacked access to electricity in the country.
Amaza said that the workshop was organised to increase awareness on the negative impacts of the use of the various sources of dirty energy, socially and mentally.
“The workshop was also organised to create a transition from the use of inefficient energy sources to adoption of clean energy sources.
“We are here in Kano to enlight people and food vendors to make them tap the abundant energy opportunity which is clean and healthy through INNOVATIONS, solution, support and awareness while on the other hand to help them avoid the risk associated with using dirty fuel,” he said.
According to him, many people still rely on fuelwood for cooking, pushing the rate of health risk and deforestation to alarming level.
